dormakaba News, Sustainability, Products

Skyfold® movable walls are now EPD verified

Monday, July 6, 2020

To make sustainable decisions when building or renovating a space, architects, general contractors and business owners need to know how the products or materials selected impact the natural environment. The same goes for companies looking to expand on their sustainability initiatives, such as Skyfold<. Skyfold is a brand within dormakaba Group’s Key & Wall Solutions segment, manufacturing vertically folding and acoustic automated movable walls for example for flexible offices or hospitality venues worldwide. In their Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) released on April 30, 2020, Skyfold shares their products’ environmental performance to not only provide specifiers with the resources needed to facilitate green building certification, but also to provide themselves with a tool to reflect on their own environmental footprint.

What is EPD verification?

EPDis a summary report of a product’s environmental performance based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This scientific process examines the environmental impacts associated with all stages of a product’s life, from raw material extraction, through processing, manufacture, distribution, use, maintenance, to end of life (disposal or recycling). EPDs are prepared in accordance with international ISO standards as part of SCS Global Services’ EPD Program and then verified by a third party.

Skyfold’s EPD reports

Life Cycle Assessment and EPDs were produced for all Skyfold movable walls. All Skyfold EPDs track the complete manufacturing process of the products, as well as distribution and end-of-life (e.g. cradle-to-grave). The reports reveal data on base materials, packaging, manufacturing, transportation, installation, operation and use when installed, maintenance, and various end-of-life scenarios.  

Upon completing the EPD program, Skyfold’s reports were published in SCS’s Certified Green Products Guide and in the resource section of the Skyfold website.

Using EPD reports for continuous improvement

EPDs communicate an un-biased and transparent view into how a product can impact the environment and to what extent. This gives Skyfold a unique opportunity to assess the materials and procedures used to fabricate their movable walls, the transportation methods used to deliver these walls to customers, and different end-of-life possibilities.

“What’s great about EPDs is that they provide us with a chance to reflect on our processes and products and then evaluate where and how we can improve to make Skyfold an even greener flexible space solution for our customers and our natural environment,” explains Stephan Acolatse, Engineering Supervisor at Skyfold and head of the team of Skyfold engineers responsible for the EPD reports.

Skyfold’s current EPD reports are valid for another five years, during which time the company will review the findings before the EPDs are up for renewal in April 2025. As they continue to develop their sustainability efforts, current and future EPDs will become a valuable comparison tool, charting the effectiveness of any changes made to improve the environmental performance of their products or operations over the coming years.

How can EPDs help architects and specifiers?

During material or product selection, specifiers can refer to EPDs when researching sustainable options for their buildings and spaces. When seeking green building certification, like LEED®, WELL, and Green Globes, EPD reports can also be used as a reference point to calculate a building’s environmental footprint.

To learn more about Skyfold’s EPDs and products, visit the blog VerticalThinking.


If you would like to read more about the sustainability performance of dormakaba, visit the Group’s annual Sustainability Report.